News

IT for government and public sector

• January 14, 2021 14 Jan'21

  Old, on-premise systems targeted in Hackney ransomware attack

  Council reveals some more insight into how the Pysa ransomware gang infiltrated its systems by exploiting legacy technology

• January 14, 2021 14 Jan'21

  Unforeseen consequences of new technologies put UK at risk

  Lords committee told that the risks associated with various emerging digital technologies must be assessed together, with input from UK citizens, if the government is to avoid ‘siloisation’ of fundamentally interconnected problems

• January 13, 2021 13 Jan'21

  Covid-19 immunity passport tests to begin in UK

  A Covid-19 immunity and vaccination passport developed by two UK firms and backed by Innovate UK has entered the live testing phase

• January 13, 2021 13 Jan'21

  Stolen Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine data leaked

  Data dump understood to include screenshots of emails, peer review information, PDFs and PowerPoint presentations

• January 13, 2021 13 Jan'21

  European IT outsourcing spend up in 2020 after cloud boost

  IT outsourcing sector growth is an indication that businesses are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic disruption it has brought

• January 12, 2021 12 Jan'21

  Government appoints digital leadership roles and sets up new digital office

  The government is creating a new Central Digital and Data Office, which will be led by Home Office tech boss Joanna Davinson

• January 12, 2021 12 Jan'21

  Bahrain hopes 5G roll-out will attract more tech firms to its shores

  Bahrain has completed its 5G roll-out, which will support its IT infrastructure in creating the right environment for technology firms

• January 12, 2021 12 Jan'21

  Wales invests £4.9m in digital services improvement

  Government funding aims to accelerate the design and delivery of citizen-focused offerings in Wales

• January 11, 2021 11 Jan'21

  The UK’s struggle with digital schooling

  The UK government’s sudden decision to close schools left many either unprepared or unable to provide children with online schooling, so what does home learning currently look like for children across the UK?

• January 11, 2021 11 Jan'21

  Ordnance Survey opens up direct, API access to location data for public sector

  Location data made available to public sector organisations via application programming interfaces, reducing data management overheads

• January 11, 2021 11 Jan'21

  Tech key to improving lives of people with rare diseases, says government report

  The UK Rare Diseases Framework will build on advances in genomics and data analysis to improve testing and diagnosis

• January 11, 2021 11 Jan'21

  New Zealand central bank IT system breached in cyber attack

  Bank is responding to a cyber attack after hackers breached the system of a third-party supplier

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  Government use of 'general warrants' to authorise computer and phone hacking is unlawful

  A court has ruled that the security and intelligence services can no longer rely on ‘general warrants’ to authorise the hacking of large numbers of computers and phones belonging to UK citizens

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  Tech sector reacts to Trump social media bans

  Facebook, Instagram and others moved to limit US president’s social media access after the violence in Washington DC, but experts have condemned them for acting too slowly, while disinformation about the riots persists

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  Major facial-recognition supplier builds system to identify masked faces

  Facial-recognition supplier claims new system can accurately identify masked faces, therefore promoting public health during the pandemic. But questions remain about whether its existing UK law enforcement clients will be deploying the technology

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  AI Council advises government to do artificial intelligence moonshots

  The AI Council has published a “roadmap” of advice to government in respect of developing a UK state strategy for artificial intelligence, encompassing skills, vendor support and public sector procurement

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  Brexit deal grants UK temporary data adequacy

  The EU-UK Brexit deal has granted the UK temporary data adequacy to allow for the continued flow of data across borders, but the agreement has divided data protection experts

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  Majority of suppliers won’t have software ready for CDS until March

  Brexit IT systems are all up and running, but little traffic through the borders means they haven’t yet been put to the test, and in Northern Ireland, suppliers don’t yet have software ready to use the Customs Declaration Service

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Poor data flows hampered government’s Covid-19 response, says the Science and Technology Committee

  House of Commons Science and Technology Committee finds poor data management to have hampered the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Biden picks cyber veteran to reinvigorate security response

  Appointment of career intelligence operative Anne Neuberger signals refreshed security approach for the US government under Joe Biden's administration

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Trump bans Chinese payment apps

  US president signs executive order banning the use of Chinese payments app, citing national security risks

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Hackney Council data leaked by Pysa ransomware gang

  Council data stolen in October is leaked online in a double extortion attack

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Most British people don't trust government with personal data

  The UK ranks high in a list of countries where citizens are least confident about how their private information is handled by public authorities, research shows

• January 06, 2021 06 Jan'21

  Labour urges government to adopt new plan for at-home education

  Labour MPs have written to government officials urging them to provide schools and children with the digital provisions necessary to ensure every child can properly work from home during lockdown

• January 06, 2021 06 Jan'21

  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to remain in prison despite winning extradition battle

  Judge cites Assange’s support of NSA whistleblower as one of the reasons for him being at high risk of absconding. He will remain in Belmarsh prison until the US government completes its appeal

• January 06, 2021 06 Jan'21

  SolarWinds attack almost certainly work of Russian spooks

  Investigations into the far-reaching SolarWinds Solorigate attack did not let up during the holidays

• January 05, 2021 05 Jan'21

  Huawei battles for market access in Nordics

  Chinese networking equipment supplier Huawei fights to retain access to potential 5G contracts across the Nordic region

• January 05, 2021 05 Jan'21

  AAT calls on government to re-think the Making Tax Digital exemption threshold

  The Association of Accounting Technicians calls for improvements to HM Revenue and Customs’ Making Tax Digital programme, and says the exemption threshold, currently at £10,000, should be raised

• January 05, 2021 05 Jan'21

  Government delays digital strategy

  The digital strategy, originally due in autumn 2020, is likely to be published at some point in 2021, and the government is ‘continuing to consider the best timeframe for delivering the strategy’

• January 04, 2021 04 Jan'21

  Nominations open for Computer Weekly Innovation Awards APAC

  Computer Weekly is looking for nominations for its inaugural Innovation Awards in APAC to honour digitisation initiatives that have transformed organisations in seven industries

• January 04, 2021 04 Jan'21

  Caerphilly council delivers free school meals through automation

  Welsh council expands its robotic process automation project, which has successfully helped the council deliver free school meals during the Covid-19 pandemic

• January 04, 2021 04 Jan'21

  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to face charges in US, court rules

  Court rules it would be oppressive to send Julian Assange to the US to face trial after finding he is at high risk of suicide. US government says it will appeal

• December 31, 2020 31 Dec'20

  Pandemic heroes dominate New Year Honours List 2021

  The New Year Honours List 2021 is remarkable for its recognition of those who have excelled during the Covid-19 public health emergency, including digital and data professionals

• December 31, 2020 31 Dec'20

  Top 10 investigations and national security stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 investigations and national security stories of 2020

• December 31, 2020 31 Dec'20

  Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2020

• December 30, 2020 30 Dec'20

  UK-EU Brexit deal passes Commons with six-month data adequacy bridge

  IT industry trade body TechUK has welcomed a six-month data adequacy bridge, in the wake of the EU-UK trade deal that the House of Commons has voted for

• December 30, 2020 30 Dec'20

  Top 10 government and public sector IT stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 government and public IT stories of 2020

• December 30, 2020 30 Dec'20

  Top 10 Benelux IT stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Benelux IT stories of 2020

• December 24, 2020 24 Dec'20

  UK-EU Brexit deal: TechUK and DigitalEurope hail new dawn but note unfinished data business

  Technology trade bodies TechUK and DigitalEurope welcome Christmas Eve UK-EU Brexit deal as a new dawn, but say there is work still be to done on data adequacy and financial equivalence

• December 24, 2020 24 Dec'20

  UK-EU Brexit deal: TechUK sees positive runes on digital and data adequacy

  TechUK is giving a cautious welcome to the imminent UK-EU trade deal, seeing positive signs for data adequacy and digital trade

• December 24, 2020 24 Dec'20

  Top 10 Middle East stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Middle East stories of 2020

• December 24, 2020 24 Dec'20

  Top 10 Downtime Upload podcasts of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Downtime Upload podcasts of 2020

• December 23, 2020 23 Dec'20

  Top 10 startup stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 startup stories of 2020

• December 22, 2020 22 Dec'20

  Swedish central bank moves e-krona project to next stage

  Riksbank takes digital currency project to the next phase with Accenture building a platform to test the concept

• December 21, 2020 21 Dec'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Åsa Melvanius, Lund municipality

  For Åsa Melvanius, CDO at the Swedish municipality of Lund, created a “robot factory” that has saved the city more than 6,500 hours by automating routine processes

• December 21, 2020 21 Dec'20

  Top 10 enterprise IT in the Nordics stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Nordic enterprise IT stories of 2020

• December 18, 2020 18 Dec'20

  Government to spend more on IT consultants as skills gap remains unsolved

  According to a Public Accounts Committee report, the need to fill gaps in tech expertise as a result of Covid-19 and Brexit means the public sector will resort to costly third-party support

• December 18, 2020 18 Dec'20

  Prepare for bringing people back to the office with the Nordic tech startup blueprint

  Business can learn lessons from Nordic tech startups to prepare employees to return to the office after Covid restrictions

• December 18, 2020 18 Dec'20

  SolarWinds cyber attack is ‘grave risk’ to global security

  More victims of the SolarWinds Orion Sunburst cyber attack are being identified as the massive scale of the Russia-linked cyber espionage campaign becomes more clear

• December 17, 2020 17 Dec'20

  Government can’t be complacent with AI, says Lords report

  Report urges coordination on policy and use of artificial intelligence, and sets out recommendations for how official bodies should respond to advances in the technology